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Wow. This episode was quite perfect. The way how every character tried to help Wakana in their own way, each one in-character, faded into the backgrounds that they actually helped her, all together, and not just one white knight. And each one not overdoing it, but giving simply what they had to give. Konatsu as usual unintentionally broke the ice with a "wrong" question, but the way she put it right was adorable. Sawa was outstanding as always, I agree with ThereminVox, she read Wakana perfectly, she was leading the horse, but virtually she took her by hand and leaded her without her realizing it. But the hero has been her father, with no doubts. So caring. I knew that he hadn't given away the piano, I mean, really, he couldn't have done taht, and it was just so right. I liked even how subtlety they remarked that the piano (and everything that was related to her mother) was really important to him too. She was her mother, but even his wife.
Anyways the moment I started cracking was just after her mother made her "selfish" request to her husband and I was thinking that it really was a selfish request, but when she ended the sentence I realized she was right instead, how sad it would have been writing a sad song that would have always reminded of her in that last moments. Then his father started to cry and that was another hit. But the episode was permeated of a bittersweet feeling that never went too far.
Oh, Konatsu was hilarious when trying to hide from Wakana's father and as always I love Sawa and Konatsu interactions.
I keep not liking much the male cast, so I'm not sure if I want to see more about them, but anyways, not that I would really complain

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The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.

What's wrong with us rooting for a romantic pairing when it's pretty apparent? This is slice of life, it's bound to have some kind of romance.

As much as people say TT lacks ambition I'd say it'd be pretty ambitious to not play into people's expectation and have absolutely no romance.
I'll maybe have to eat my words but I'm confident the males will be centered around at some point as well.

Hm... I want to believe that I'll be eating my words later on, but I'm going to throw this out.

Spoiler for Romantic Theory:

Well, you rarely have a romantic story without a love triangle. I am currently seeing a lot of hints going into a relationship that could look like this. Sawa <-> Badminton -> Konatsu. For what I notice, Konatsu is not even interested in romance and looks to be a fairly similar character to a certain one from Hanasaku Iroha. On the other hand, Badminton-kun is pictured several times looking at Konatsu in a certain way. Meanwhile, on the other end, we have a potential Sawa - Badminton relationship which is starting to develop.

Just throwing this out there, I've gathered a bunch of hints from the 6 episodes that aired and I think that I can speculate on what COULD be a possible way for the anime to go in that way.

As much as people say TT lacks ambition I'd say it'd be pretty ambitious to not play into people's expectation and have absolutely no romance.
I'll maybe have to eat my words but I'm confident the males will be centered around at some point as well.

I can see one or the other (no romance at all or the males will be centered around at some point). But both?

Sorry, but I've seen too much anime to be confident in such an idea.

And as I wrote before, if the price of getting the males focused on for a bit is romance then bring on the romance!

I can see one or the other (no romance at all or the males will be centered around at some point). But both?

Sorry, but I've seen too much anime to be confident in such an idea.

And as I wrote before, if the price of getting the males focused on for a bit is romance then bring on the romance!

Dunno, I can still see both. They've given the males stories that are independent of the girls (though they also given each a little bit of possible leeway with interacting with the girls). If they just stick to no-ro route, Wien has his brother or whoever that was, which is still an unknown and I'm sure they'll bring it up again. Taichi has his mysterious(probably sister) motivator and the sports aspect. At the same time, there is the ro-route where we can see Wien's animal affinity play into Sawa's arc or his remedial classes with Wakana, or in Taichi's case we have sports overlap with Sawa or something about his motivator possibly overlapping with one of the girls.

As the pieces are set right now, I wouldn't be making any bets just yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by germanturkey

Spoiler for large:

so fyi, this is defaulted to my desktop... and probably soon to be my avatar.

Dunno, I can still see both. They've given the males stories that are independent of the girls (though they also given each a little bit of possible leeway with interacting with the girls).

Yes, and how much screen-time were devoted to those independent stories?

We're talking scraps here, Vena. It's really not much to put serious hope in after six episodes of an one cour anime.

Sure, it's possible that this anime could put a focus on the male characters without bringing in romance, but it's hardly anything to be confident in.

I think that people here are setting too high/specific expectations if they expect this anime to only be about friendship but also to give the male characters a fair shake relative to the female characters.

Never said anything was wrong with it, I just like keeping an open mind to the possibilities. That said, this show seems to be about the girls but there are still plot threads being left unanswered and unresolved, particularly with Wien. Taichi they focused on for half an episode, gave him some solid development in character and goals, and have left it at that. We've more or less been given his whole back story, family, and motivations (in fact we have this for almost everyone), but Wien remains completely opaque. For this reason, I suspect some tomfoolery and trickery going on here... or maybe that s just me.

Heck, if Tai hi is simply a male-fill-in role, then his character arc is already over and his motivations and conflicts settled. But... that seems a little too easy, no?

Never said anything was wrong with it, I just like keeping an open mind to the possibilities. That said, this show seems to be about the girls but there are still plot threads being left unanswered and unresolved, particularly with Wien. Taichi they focused on for half an episode, gave him some solid development in character and goals, and have left it at that. We've more or less been given his whole back story, family, and motivations (in fact we have this for almost everyone), but Wien remains completely opaque. For this reason, I suspect some tomfoolery and trickery going on here... or maybe that s just me.

Heck, if Tai hi is simply a male-fill-in role, then his character arc is already over and his motivations and conflicts settled. But... that seems a little too easy, no?

Your standards are really low. "whole back story"? Motivations? Honestly, the guys have pretty much gotten jack squat so far. Sure it's possible (if unlikely) that'll change, but so far? Not by any standard I'm comfortable with have they gotten anything beyond the barest lip service.

Nothing per se , just that it'd feel like the show would tell me "the only way male characters can be interesting is if they're romantic interests".

Hey, if they can make the male characters more important/fleshed out without using romance to do it, then I'll heap on loads of praise for it myself.

But I would just caution people against getting their hopes up. That's all.

I will also admit some bias on the romance front. Wien is a great guy, and it would honestly make me smile to see him end up in a nice romance.

Quote:

But I'll be the first to tell you I enjoy a good burger so if the romance is executed as well as this episode was I'll have no issues whatsoever

I love how Reckoner's burger analogy has so totally taken off, lol.

And yeah, I'll be happy with just a good burger from Tari Tari. But if you and Vena are right and they manage to turn it into one of the best and most healthy burgers ever, then I'll make a point to recommend it to burger lovers everywhere.

Your standards are really low. "whole back story"? Motivations? Honestly, the guys have pretty much gotten jack squat so far. Sure it's possible (if unlikely) that'll change, but so far? Not by any standard I'm comfortable with have they gotten anything beyond the barest lip service.

Well his whole back story in the context of the show. I was never expecting Gogol levels of character depth in a 13 episode tale about girls and music, but as far as Taichi is concerned: Why is he in the school and trying so hard? Someone motivated him. What does he want to do? Play badminton professionally. Bare bones , sure enough, but aside from Wakana, its not exactly much less than the rest of the cast. I'm just being (overly) optimistic...

Your standards are really low. "whole back story"? Motivations? Honestly, the guys have pretty much gotten jack squat so far. Sure it's possible (if unlikely) that'll change, but so far? Not by any standard I'm comfortable with have they gotten anything beyond the barest lip service.

You seem awfully bothered by the lack of male character development in this series. May I remind you what happened the last time PA Works tried to develop their male characters in a certain SPARKLING anime

You seem awfully bothered by the lack of male character development in this series. May I remind you what happened the last time PA Works tried to develop their male characters in a certain SPARKLING anime

Don't compare Wienner to the likes of Enishi and Jiromaru. That's just insulting.

I'm fairly sure the male characters will be developed. Remember the shorts before each episode. So far, they've been very relevant (Wakana playing with her mom, Konatsu dancing to the Condor Queens). We saw Tanaka's sister defending him and Wien's sister, so I'm sure the anime will follow through.